Recurring Nightmare
Previous Chapter - Nightmare in the Mist Isa ran through the streets carrying Kana on her back, who had gone practically catatonic when the two of them became sounded by phantoms. A few flashy spells acted as a distraction, allowing Isa to put as much distance between them and the ghosts as she could. She didn't have time to check if the girl was ok, not completely at least, but the short breaths on the back of her neck was a good sign. She hoped. She spun around another corner and into a building, what might have been a storefront at some point. She let Kana down in one of the back rooms and, after taking checking to see if the phantoms hadn't caught up with them, knelt down right next to her. "Kana? Are you ok?" "No...no!" Kana said to herself shivering in fear, and holding the sides of her head, not excepting what she had witnessed. Isa was at a loss. She didn't consider herself to be very good at consoling people, and a breakdown like this was the last thing she expected from the usually combative Kana. She slowly took the girls hands in her own, Trying to offer some small amount of comfort. "It's alright, we got away." She mumbled with a small smile. "The ghosts didn't follow us." The moment Isa grabbed her hands Kana freaked out and slapped her hands away and she quickly crawled backwards across the floor till she hit the wall to get away from her. When she noticed that it was Isa she calmed down a bit. She covered her face with her hands and moved her knees infront of her for protection. Isa could hear her panting. Though her reaction wasn't much of a surprise, something told her that there was more to this than simply panicking under pressure. Rubbing the back of her soor hand, Isa crept a little closer. "Kana honey, what's wrong?" Kana didn't reply and just kept panting with her hands covering her face, and shivering. Isa was at a loss. Something spooked her, really bad. She didn't want to risk signaling the others because the phantoms would find them too, and she'd be stuck running and hiding all over again. Though it tied her stomach in a knot, Isa began picking Kana up off the floor. They couldn't stay inside all day, and she hoped the shock of being on her feet would snap her back to her senses. "C'mon honey, we need to go." Kana did not resist when she was being picked up to her feet, however even standing up she just looked at the ground, unable to look up. Isa found her state to be more than a little heart wrenching, considering how full of energy she'd been before, but at least she was back on her feet. After using a shard of glass to check that the way was clear, Isa led Kana out of the bookshop by the hand. The eerie mist still obscured just about everything, but Isa hoped that meant that the ghosts wouldn't be able to see either. It was a stupid thing to count on, but it was comfort enough. She thought she saw a shadow zip between two buildings, and one of her magic books appeared in her hand with a flash. "Who's there!" She demanded. From within the shadows a man in his mid teens slowed walked and was able to be seen threw the fog. The man had long, dark blue hair that was tied in a pony tail and wearing a black jacket with dark colored clothes underneath. "Hmph so I've finally been spotted. No matter, cause you wont remain on this island much longer anyways." The man said in a dull tone and his expressionless face shows he doesn't really care. Another book jumped into Isa's hand, holding the two of them opened between her fingers. "2 Spell Formation - Icy River!" A white wave washed down the ally, leaving a thick layer of ice on everything it touched as it passed. "C'mon, run!" She tugged Kana along behind her, everything beginning to piece itself together. "That was a person. A living person. She thought to herself. There where no ghosts, no great curse; somebody was responsible for all this. She hopped over a fallen lamppost, practically hulling Kana off the ground in the process, when they came upon the ruins of a small building. Isa searched left and right for something to use as cover, but there where few options available. Just as she was about to set off, she heard a familiar voice cut through the fog. "Hey sis!" Isa froze so fast that Kana ran straight into her, a look of shear amazement on her face. "No way..." She spun back to the pile of rubble, seeing a familiarly one armed silhouette perched on the rocks. "What are you...?" "What? Are saying you don't recognize your own sister?" The familiar person said as her face was quickly revealed. "Its me Jaina, remember." She said with a welcoming smile on her face. "I know who you-." She stopped for a moment. "How did you... Why are you... When did..." Isa's mind flooded with questions, trying to rationalise how her sister came to be here. Hearing Kana's shallow breathing behind her however changed her priorities back to finding shelter. "Forget it, we need to hide." Isa took off again, heading into another building's collapsed stairwell, with Kana and Jaina not far behind her. After hiding another building Jaina stared Isa with a big, welcoming smile on her face. "Hey Isa, remember the times when you worked for the council?" "You're asking about this now?" A quick look, and Isa's attitude changed when she saw the smirk on Jaina's face. "Y-yeah, what about it?" "Nothin'..." She shrugged, a sly grin cutting acros her face. "Just thought it was funny. You're out here looking after this kid, but when it was me you where... What? Filling out administration forms?" Isa froze, her heart feeling a hundred times heavier in her chest. "I... I uh..." She stuttered, unable to calm her racing thoughts. Something was off, Jaina had never come at her like this before. "I was at-." "You where working." Jaina interrupted, clutching the stump of her shoulder. "I was in the fight of my life, and you where filing paperwork. Some twin you turned out to be." Kana looked up as Isa in confusion until she heard a familiar voice from behind. "Kana." it said calmly. Kana's eyes widened and quickly turned around. When she got a good look her eyes widened even more. "No...no." She said worriedly as a figured walked out from the shadows seeing a man with Silver hair and a black leather jacket. Kana breathed heavily "Akon... Hime!" She said frantically, trying to catch her breath. Isa quickly glanced up to find a man emerging from the shadows, and quickly pulled Kana to her feet. "Why are you bringing this up now? We need-." She cut herself off when she saw Jaina in the corner of her eye, being shocked into silence. She stood in the same place, same expression and everything. What was different now was that blood was seeping through the bandages she used to cover her missing arm, and a growing pool began gathering at her feet. Her eye patch was gone too leaving only a bloody hole in her face where her eye should have been? "What?" She turned her head to the side, seemingly unaware of her own situation. "It's like you care about that kid more than me." Isa backed away in horror, feeling herself growing sick for the scene before her. "Jaina." She muttered, unable to formulate a thought. She just stood there, not wanting to seen anymore but unable to tare her eyes away. "What's happening?" Kana was frozen stiff, unable to move back from the man standing before. "No... you can't be here." She mumbles in fear. Her breathing gets heavier and heavier with each passing minute. As Akon slowly begins to walks towards her, Kana lost it. "No get the hell away from me!" She shouted in a panic trying to back away but Isa is in the way. Kana and Isa were both horrified by the people in front of them when all of a sudden they both heard a voice. "You two are pathetic if it's gotten you this frightened." Said the voice. Both of them looked at the top of the staircase and saw the man they saw before looking down on them with a lifeless expression. The strangers appearance was enough to snap Isa back to her senses. She grabbed Kana by the back of her shirt and made a break for it, shoulder checking the profusely bleeding Jaina out of the way. As Isa was running she quickly stopped once they reached the bottom of the stairs for each of the exit was blocked by sort of black wall. "Where are you going sis, you going to abandon me again like you did before?" Jaina said as she was suddenly behind her with Akon next to her and the stranger standing behind them. "You're not her." She spat. Despite her tone, Isa couldn't seem to bring herself to attack. She just stood there, transfixed by Jaina's appearance. While Kana and Isa were focused on the people they knew the man jumped towards them with his knife pulled out about to slash at them, however Kana was more focused on Akon to notice then Isa was. SHe stumbled back, a moments to late to effectively dodge. The assailant left a small cut on the back of her arm when she tried to protect herself, but that was it. A book appeared in Isa's hand with a flash, and she held it up toward her assailant. "Fireball!" A swath of flames washed up the stairwell, but Isa didn't have time to check and see if the job was done. She grabbed Kana by the arm and took off again. "C'mon run." She urged. As they stepped back to a safe distance to wait for the dust to clear, a black wall was seen through the dust as it cleared completely. The wall then separated into ribbons with arrow heads and moved around like they were flowing in the wind and the man standing behind unharmed, Isa noticed that the black ribbons was connected to the bottom of his feet. The ribbons was then flinged towards Isa and Kana. "Shadow Blades." 'The stranger called calmly. Isa and Kana dove out of the way, taking shelter behind a tall shelf as black tendrils tore through the building. The books in her hand disappeared and where replaced by three different ones, and she jumped up the second she thought the coast was clear. "'Three Spell formation: Thunderstorm!" A black plume of cloud erupted from her books, which was followed by a flash and a massive boom of thunder. The few windows still intact shattered instantly,the man stood there not moving an inch when suddenly he sunk into the ground, evading the attack. Isa was shocked at what she just witnessed when all of a sudden he appeared behind them with his shadow forming hands that were about to grab Isa who didn't have enough time to evade. The sound of Isa's spell snapped Kana from her trance. She jumped up and swung her arm back with a black mace Requiping into her hand, She hit the man as hard as she could as he is sent flying into the wall. Kana didn't give any time to recover and charged at him ready to swing at him again when Akon slid between her and the man block from her attack. Kana became scared and stopped in her tracks, her mace in the air ready to swing but Kana couldnt get the courage to strike him. Her face sweating full of nerves as she gazed upon his careless face. "Go on Kana continue with your attack." Akon said as he slowly approached her with a broken piece of glass in the shape of a knife in his hand and raised in the air ready to slash her with it, but Kana was to scared to move. "Now its about time you die Kana." Akon said softly as he swung the glass piece down towards her. Kana was suddenly yanked backwards, keeping the knife just a few inches from her head. In her place, Isa held up a pair of books between the fingers on her hand, a bright orange glow emanating from each. "2 Spell Formation - Explosion!" Another bright flash, and a defining explosion erupted out the side of the building. Isa lept out one of the windows, Pulling Kana after her, just before the structure began to slowly collapse. rouble kicked up a massive dust cloud, from which emerged the man unharmed from the collapsed building. He looked in the direction they ran from with a calm look on his face. ---- Isa ran farther this time. So far that they soon left the confides of the tiny settlement and found themselves facing the ocean again. It was a different beach though, this one made up of actual sand, and the fog made navigating next to imposable. She dragged Kana into an elevated cabin on the beach, hoping it would alow them to rest a little better than their last. After checking a few times to make sure they weren't followed, she knelt down next to Kana. "Kana, sweaty? Is everything alright?" Kana sat on the floor hugging her knees, shacking. "Yea... I'm fine." She said in a fearfully tone like she was almost about to cry. Isa looked her over a few times, completely unconvinced. "You don't look it." Kana didn't say anything, neither confirming or denying Isa's suspicions. "What's bothering you?" "I...I saw someone I knew before. Someone I hoped I would never see again." Kana hugged her legs tight for protection. "I saw my father." She said in serious tone. Isa didn't know what to say. She thought about asking if that was really such a bad thing, but the answer to that was pretty obvious. "You mean that guy we saw?" She asked. "The one controlling the ghosts?" Kana shook her head no. "That man he was with. He saved me from a hellish life i was forced to live. For as long as i could remember i was raised as a slave in the country of Bosco, a country home to slavery. I was bought and sold more times then i can count to people who treated me as worse as the last. I was miserable, never had a name, friends and all i could wonder is how ended up having such a hellish life." Tears flowed down her face like a waterfall as she clinched her fist to keep her from remember the horrible memories."Why did my parents give me away to slaver and not to some adoption home? And only one solution came to mind. They never wanted me, that they just decided to abandon me. But then that man showed up and took away from that hellish life and gave me a home, i loved him like a father and he loved me like a daughter. I was happy with my new life." Kana smiled a little with her eyes tearing remembering all the happy memories she had with her father. "But all that change in one night. When that man. my father." Kana clinched her fist to keep her from shaking in fear. her fist began shaking a little as she tried to continue. "Tried to kill me." She said in sad and fearful tone with tears flowing down her eyes. Isa gasped. She didn't have anything to say, but just held Kana in a tight hug. "Oh..." She mumbled, not having anything to say. She took another look outside, thinking of a battle strategy, but her mind was jumbled listening to Kana sob. "I'm sorry." Her voice was soft as she continued. "That's why I was so mad towards you this whole time and why I hate that stupid jerk Hino. I hate seeing people who abandon their relatives and siblings like how you left your sister to fend for herself instead of dropping everything to save her and how Hino's so called father vanished without saying a word to him. And what irritates me more is that even after what he did to him Hino will stop at nothing to find his dragon." She stopped a moment to catch her breath, gasping for air between sobs. "I hate it so much it makes me sick." Isa just held on to her. She had no idea what to say, but hoped just being there would comfort her in some fashion. Everything she'd done over the past few days suddenly made sense though, and though none of it was really her fault, she still felt bad. "I see..." She mumbled. Kana tries to drys up her tears and looks over at Isa. "I mean didn't Jaina mean anything to you? Was the argument so terrible you'd abandon her without a second thought?" She said in a angry yet sad tone. "It... wasn't as simple as that..." Isa mumbled, knowing anything she said would sound like an excuse. "We where on our own for a good while and... A lot of people said we where more similar back then, but she was always the leader." She actually giggled, despite the grim situation they where in. "One day we got in a fight, and ended up seriously hurting someone. They where dark mages, on a rampage throughout Bantia's coastline, but it scared me that I could do what I did to another person. When the council asked us to joined them, I thought it was a good way to keep us in check. But Jaina didn't like the thought of following orders, and we began arguing about it. Eventually we went our separate ways; I worked at the council, and Jaina founded Blazing Soul." Her voice remained steady throughout the whole telling, but Isa began to look like she was in pain. "It was only five years, but it seemed to go by in a flash. Eventually we got so busy with our own lives that we didn't talk much anymore. I had the council and Jaina had her guild. Then the first call I get about her was from Davin, saying Jaina had been hurt." Kana remained upset towards her during Isa's explanation, however as she continued to listen to the full story she couldn't help but feel remorseful towards Isa. She looked down in grief, her face covered in shadow as she rested her head on her legs. Isa took another look around the corner; in their brief exchange, she had completely lost track of time. Not a good mistake to make in the middle of a fight. She hopped to her feet again and, after deciding that Kana looked well enough to move, stepped into the light. "Ok, i'm glad we could talk, but we need to find Esca and the others. And deal with that other mage summoning those shadow things too." Kana took a moment of breath and got up along with her. After hearing her say that Kana face looked anxious for another fight. "Lets go." She said in excitement. ---- After the shock wave erupted all of Team Warrior Angel members were all scattered in different directions. Hino was sent flying through the air at incredible speed. "AHHHHHHHH!" He screamed while flying away. Spirit comes flying trying to catch up to him "HINOOOOO!" He shouted as he grew closer to him. He was finally able to catch up to him and stopped his falling. "I gottcha." He said while floating in the air. "Thanks buddy." Hino said while trying to recover from the blast. "What the heck was that about? This guys insane for using like tha....." He said looking back where they came from but interupted in surprised when he noticed something from afar. Stepping through the smoke was a grinning Wells, watching Hino and Spirit fly away. "Right!" He announced, drawing a pair of swords from his belt and giving chase. "Let the slaughter begin!" Next Chaper - Scattered Island Category:Chapter Category:Chapters Category:Storyline Category:The Island of Darkess